The preterite describes actions in the past: Definite beginning and ending in time The action has been completed The action happened one time
The following words are words that trigger the preterite: Anoche: last night El año pasado: last year La semana pasada: last week Any period of time + pasado= last _________ Day of the week (use def article) Month (use def article) Ayer: yesterday Anteayer: the day before yesterday Hace + (time expression): _________ago Hace tres años: three years ago Hace cuatro meses: four months ago Una vez: one time De repente: suddenly Un día: one day Una noche: one night
1.) decide what kind of verb you have 2.) decide what pronoun you are conjugating for 3.) drop the ending 4.) add the new ending that matches your pronoun
Yo -é Nosotros/Nosotras -amos Tú -aste Él, Ella, Usted -ó Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes -aron
Yo -í Nosotros/Nosotras -imos Tú -iste Él, Ella, Usted -ió Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes -ieron
Ellos (practicar) Nosotros (hablar) Tú (bailar) Usted (lavar) Yo (limpiar)
She studied I bought You listened We (all girls) swam They walked
Ella (cocinar)
You sang
Y’all rode the bike.
Usted (estudiar)
I washed the car.